POLOBS completes its mapping of the metropolitan cultural and creative sector and reinforces the development of the future Metropolitan Platform for Culture

POLOBS, the Observatory for Science, Communication and Culture Policies at the University of Minho, has completed the Mapping of the Metropolitan Cultural and Creative Sector in the Porto Metropolitan Area (AMP), a project that identified 7,319 cultural assets spread across the region’s 17 municipalities, constituting the most comprehensive survey ever carried out on the metropolitan cultural ecosystem.

Developed over more than a year of research, the project combined quantitative and qualitative methodologies to build a rigorous and up-to-date knowledge base on the region’s cultural heritage. Since April 2025, 34 sessions of institutional and emotional mapping have been carried out, involving more than 400 participants, in addition to more than 60 direct observations in the local context. The project also benefited from the collaboration of eight research fellows from the fields of Communication Sciences, Sociology, History, Heritage and Cultural Studies, reflecting a multidisciplinary approach to the analysis of the cultural and creative sector.

On 13 July, the study was presented to the councillors responsible for culture in the Porto Metropolitan Area, at a meeting chaired by the Metropolitan Secretary, Andreia Ferreira. The presentation was led by the lead co-researcher and project methodology coordinator, Manuel Gama, who outlined the main findings of the study and the methodological model developed for the identification, characterisation and georeferencing of cultural assets. On that occasion, Andreia Ferreira emphasised that the study constitutes “an unprecedented knowledge base on the metropolitan cultural ecosystem and an important tool to support the formulation of public policies, strategic planning and the development of future cooperation initiatives”. The document, provided for in the Metropolitan Charter for Culture 2023–2028, was subsequently forwarded to the metropolitan bodies for consideration.

On 24 July, the researcher in charge of the project, José Gabriel Andrade, presented the Mapping of the Metropolitan Cultural and Creative Sector at the meeting of the Porto Metropolitan Council, where the study was unanimously approved by the 17 mayors of the Porto Metropolitan Area.

This approval represents a decisive step towards the creation of the future Metropolitan Platform for Culture, a digital infrastructure that will enable the georeferencing of the region’s cultural assets, ensuring that information is continuously updated and promoting the integrated management of knowledge regarding the metropolitan cultural heritage.

During the meeting, the vice-president of the Porto Metropolitan Council, Amadeu Albergaria, emphasised that the project is the result of work carried out in close collaboration between the University of Minho and the 17 municipalities of the Porto Metropolitan Area, enabling the creation of a strategic tool to support decision-making. He also highlighted the role of culture as a defining element of metropolitan identity, promoting cooperation, sharing and cohesion amongst the different territories. The Mayor of Matosinhos, Luísa Salgueiro, also emphasised that the mapping goes beyond the concept of a simple repository of information, constituting a strategic tool to strengthen collaboration between municipalities, foster new cooperation networks and consolidate an integrated vision of the metropolitan area. For his part, the First Secretary of the Porto Metropolitan Area, Agostinho Branquinho, noted that the approval of the study enables the region, for the first time, to have a comprehensive, systematised and structured overview of its cultural heritage, creating the necessary conditions for the development of the Metropolitan Platform for Culture.

For José Gabriel Andrade, the researcher in charge of the project, “the knowledge produced constitutes a strategic foundation for understanding the cultural diversity of the metropolitan area and supporting future decisions based on scientific evidence”. He also emphasises that “the project demonstrates the contribution that applied research can make to public policy, bringing the university closer to local areas and communities”.
The work carried out by POLOBS thus reinforces the role of scientific research in producing action-oriented knowledge, providing rigorous information that will contribute to the enhancement, coordination and promotion of the cultural and creative sector in the Porto Metropolitan Area, as well as to the development of more informed, participatory and sustainable public policies.

(Image Credits: João Pedro Rocha / Porto Municipality )

[Posted: 29-07-2026]